From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfall short of somethingfall short of somethingLESSto be less than the amount or standard that is needed or that you want This year’s profit will fall short of 13%. He would sack any of his staff who fell short of his high standards. → fall
Examples from the Corpus
fall short of something• On the other hand, if the firm falls short of covering its fixed costs, a loss will be incurred.• The results fell short of eight analysts' forecasts of profit between 130 million and 127 million pounds.• The trainers suggest that, as guards, they fell short of expectations.• By 1951 the Labour government had built 900,000 houses, falling short of its target of 240,000 dwellings a year.• The results fell far short of our expectations.• Even in the best of years, Journal news coverage inevitably falls short of perfection.• Anything less than this is a measure of the extent to which the research falls short of scientific standards.• Reality has a way of falling short of the ideal.fall short of somethingfall short of somethingFAILto be less than what you need, expected, or hoped for, or to fail to reach a satisfactory standard The Republicans increased their share of the vote, but still fell short of a majority. Shares in the company dropped 26p yesterday, as profits fell short of City expectations.fall short of a goal/target/ideal The economy fell short of the Treasury’s target of 2% growth.fall far/a long way/well short of something Facilities in these schools fall far short of the standards required. One or two songs on the album are interesting, but most fall short of the mark (=are not good enough). → shortExamples from the Corpus
fall short of something• On the other hand, if the firm falls short of covering its fixed costs, a loss will be incurred.• The results fell short of eight analysts' forecasts of profit between 130 million and 127 million pounds.• The trainers suggest that, as guards, they fell short of expectations.• By 1951 the Labour government had built 900,000 houses, falling short of its target of 240,000 dwellings a year.• Even in the best of years, Journal news coverage inevitably falls short of perfection.• Anything less than this is a measure of the extent to which the research falls short of scientific standards.• Reality has a way of falling short of the ideal. 